THE last senior member of Saddam Hussein’s regime still at large died yesterday, according to a statement released by the ousted Baath party. If confirmed, the death of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri could represent a big blow to the insurgency.

Al-Douri was sixth on the list of America’s most-wanted Iraqis, with a $10 million (£5.75 million) reward for his capture. After more than 2½ years on the run, during which he helped to organise the insurgency against US forces, the veteran Baathist leader died of leukaemia.

“The leader of the resistance died on Friday, November 11, at 2.20am,” said a statement signed by the Baath command and released to a Western news agency in Baghdad.

The red-haired veteran Baathist, with a well-earned reputation for brutality, was credited with helping to finance and arm the resistance against American troops, which has blossomed into a full-scale insurgency. In the pack of playing cards issued by American forces to hunt down Saddam’s acolytes, Al-Douri was the King of Clubs.

He was accused of masterminding the alliance between remnants of the Baathist military and security forces with militant Islamic fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the man responsible for the bloodiest attacks of the conflict.

The 63-year-old former vice-president of the ruling Revolutionary Command Council was Saddam’s de facto No 2 and one of his most loyal and ruthless lieutenants. Al-Douri was born in Tikrit, Saddam’s hometown, the son of an ice seller, and the two grew up together, eventually leading the coup that brought the Baath party to power in 1968. In the 1970s he held several ministerial posts but emerged as a real force in the Government when he was appointed vice-chairman of the revolutionary council and deputy commander of the armed forces.

Al-Douri was implicated in the brutal “Anfal” campaign against the Kurds in the late 1980s. Thousands of civilians were killed, including an estimated 5,000 in the town of Halabja, which was attacked with chemical weapons.

He also had direct involvement in the suppression of the Shia Muslim uprising in southern Iraq in 1991. He was quoted as warning the Kurds not to follow the same path as the Shias. He said: “If you have forgotten Halabja, I would like to remind you that we are ready to repeat the operation.”

Al-Douri was lucky to have survived this long. In 1998 he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in the Shia Muslim holy city of Najaf. He was diagnosed with leuaemia several years ago, but recovered after treatment abroad. The disease left his skin ghostly white, but he returned to work and was put in charge of key foreign and domestic policies.

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